Love, Kardashian Style

What's real-est about reality TV's royal family? They truly love one another, and they listen to their mom! That's why nothing — including bump-watch pressure, Scott haters, and plastic surgery rumors — gets them down.PLUS: See what went down behind the scenes during their fab cover shoot at redbookmag.com/kardashianvideo.

It's never a good sign when your cover star is tweeting at 3 a.m. from a Golden Globes after-party, just three hours before she's supposed to be at a photo shoot for your magazine. But in the first surprise of many on the day of REDBOOK's May cover shoot, in walks Kim Kardashian, 15 minutes before her 6 a.m. call time, along with her sisters Kourtney and Khloé. Their younger half-sisters, Kendall and Kylie, and mom Kris follow close behind.

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You see, the early bird gets the Kardashian: The girls are now an industry unto themselves, with four shows (Keeping Up With the Kardashians, Kourtney & Khloé Take Miami, Kourtney & Kim Take New York, and, in the works, Khloé & Lamar); two fragrances; ad campaigns for Sketchers, Sears, and Carl's Jr. (to name a few); their DASH clothing boutiques; and even Kardashian Silly Bandz, all adding up to an estimated $65 million in income last year. Since, as Kris puts it, "I can't even keep up with my own Kardashians," the screech of dawn is the only time these ladies are available all at once. But if they're running on fumes from the night before, you'd never know: They hug, kiss, whisper, giggle, hold hands, and jump around like high school BFFs reunited after summer break, which brings us to...

Surprise #2: What you see on TV is what you get. These sisters are as bubbly and sweet with each other as they are on their shows. They burst into song. They share unironic group hugs. Though Kris is the brains behind The Kardashians brand, she'll tell you that she's first and foremost a devoted mother. "Our joy in life is that we always have each other," she explains. "So I've tried to teach my kids three things: love God, love your family, and love yourself." Her daughters all say they worship her (check out their Mother's Day cards at redbookmag.com/kardashians), not because she made them famous despite the fact that none of them act, sing, or dance, but because she has always put the happiness, care, and comfort of her family first. And watching them together, it slowly dawns on us that...

Surprise #3: Maybe we don't know the Kardashians quite as well as we thought. We confirmed this after chatting with them throughout the shoot and in six (yes, six) follow-up calls and emails. So here is our May cover mashup — six Kardashian women, seven conversations, and way too many favorite moments to count.

How do you explain America's fascination with the Kardashians?

KHLOÉ: We are a real family. We don't sugarcoat anything. We're not the Brady Bunch, but we always put each other first. We love each other on camera, we cry on camera. I think people relate to the realness of it.

KOURTNEY: And there are so many of us, so there's at least someone in the family dealing with some kind of issue that the audience can connect to.

Do you ever get tired of living your life in front of the whole world?

KIM: There's nothing I'm really ashamed of, and I work hard on the show and all my other projects. I don't drink or do drugs, so I'm comfortable showing the world what my life is all about.

Is it difficult to have relationships, being as exposed as you are?

KIM: It's very tough. You have to find someone who's very secure, because the shows definitely escalate everything to a very exposed and vulnerable place. You have to have a strong bond with someone, so they understand that we can give the show what it needs without violating certain boundaries.

KOURTNEY: It can definitely be annoying that everyone in the family — and even people on the street — thinks they can comment. Once Scott and I were in New York, and someone screamed, "Oh, Kourtney, I love you.... Scott, I hate you!" People think that's what I want to hear, that they're on my side. And I'm like, "Nooo, that's the father of my child." Kim says people come up to her all the time and say, "Oh, I hate Scott," and she'll say, "How dare you talk about him that way!" It took a lot for Scott and me not to care about other people's opinions.

Khloé, what's it like to be the subject of a worldwide baby watch?

KHLOÉ: I know, it's crazy. And I almost feel like I disappoint people when I don't announce I'm pregnant. I'm like, "Stop with all the pressure." I find it very flattering that people care so much, and I want a baby too, but it has to happen when it's time, and it's in God's hands. I'm young; I'm 26, and I've only been married a year and a half. And it's not that we're not trying to have a baby — it's just that we don't want to time it and take the fun out of it. I'm just learning that there are only a few days out of the month that are the key times, and if Lamar is on the road, we can't make the baby. I would love to be surprised, for it to just happen. That's how I feel now. But if a couple of years go by and I'm still not pregnant, maybe I would actually try something else.

KHLOÉ: Definitely. I'm terrified by the idea of having the baby itself, but my mom's done it, and Kourtney's done it. I would love to have four kids. Lamar would like twins, and I say to him, "Sure, it's easy for you to say you want twins because those two babies aren't coming out of you at the same time!"

KIM: Definitely three or four kids. If you asked me earlier, I would have said five or six. But I'd have to start now. It would help to have a husband first!

Kris, what's your best mom memory?

KRIS: After 50 years of life, one of the best times I remember was the week I gave birth to Kourtney. People sent flowers, brought me cookies. I was a princess for a week, and I got this baby — oh, my God. I'm kind of a sentimental nut. I saved everything. Her first burp cloth. Her first slipper. I remember when Kylie grew out of diapers and I knew I was probably putting her last diaper on her. I had a meltdown. Bruce [Jenner, Kylie and Kendall's dad] was like, "Pull it together, honey. Why are you hysterical?" And I said, "Because this is the last diaper I'll ever put on a baby."

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What are some of the biggest misconcep-tions about the Kardashians? Piers Morgan was recently pretty critical about you all being famous for being famous.

KRIS: It's annoying when I hear, "What do your girls do?" Well, first of all, all of my daughters have jobs. They are fashion stylists and designers; they own a chain of stores. They had the stores before they had the show. And my kids worked from the time they were 13 years old. So to me, that's a huge misconception — that the girls don't work. They work 25 hours a day. And that they don't have any talent? They might not be singers or dancers, but they certainly know how to produce a television show. Whether you want to call it talent or not, they have multiple shows on the air. [I want to say,] How many shows do you have?

Ladies, what's the best advice your mom ever gave you?

KHLOÉ: To be independent and strong, and a young lady. Like, all my friends — they don't know how to give dinner parties. They don't know how to cook or plan a party. [Kourtney starts laughing and Khloé asks why.]

KOURTNEY: 'Cause I'm the oldest, and I don't remember her ever teaching me.

KENDALL [TO KOURTNEY]: I remember me and Kylie being little and you would only make us macaroni and cheese. And it was good. But it's kind of easy to make.

KOURTNEY: I know how to cook — I just don't. Very much.

KHLOÉ: My brother lived with Kourtney when my dad passed away. Kourtney would make his lunches, and it would be three Ritz crackers or, like, lima beans and tofu. Why in the hell would a 14-year-old boy want lima beans and tofu?

KOURTNEY: Well, I'd made him blueberry muffins for dinner the night before.

KHLOÉ: And he would call me and say, "I need someplace else to go. Kourtney's going to make me anorexic." [Laughing]

What did your parents do right?

KIM: My dad was the strict one, but he was still a lot of fun and always playing pranks. [Robert Kardashian was an attorney who most famously defended O.J. Simpson. He died of cancer in 2003.] He believed that blood is thicker than water. That's how we always lived, with a total allegiance and loyalty to one another. And even when my parents divorced and my mom married Bruce, we knew we were all going to be friends. Father's Day would be breakfast at my mom's house with my dad and Bruce, then Bruce and my dad would go golfing and the girls would stay home and hang out. Then we'd all go to a movie later. We were one big, happy family.

What was your mom like when you were little?

KOURTNEY: I always thought of her as high fashion and cool. She'd take me and my friends to breakfast in our pajamas.

KHLOÉ: She took our whole Brownie troop to San Diego instead of going camping because we were all afraid of the bugs and stuff. It was like Troop Beverly Hills.

Do you sisters look to one another for a different kind of support than you look to your mom for?

KHLOÉ: I'm really close with Kendall and Kylie because when they were born, Kourtney was in college, Kim was married, and I was living at home. So I had a strong hand in raising them. I was 15, and I was like a little mom. Now Kendall and Kylie confide in me. They told me when they started their periods. They come to me with boy problems.

KENDALL: If we get in fights, we call you.

KHLOÉ: Like, they'll call me before school and Kendall will say, "Kylie has my jeans, and she's going to stretch them out." And I'm like, "Is this really a conversation we need to be having at 7 a.m. on a Monday morning?"

Do you guys fight with one another? Like really fight?

KHLOÉ: Kourtney and Kim didn't talk for a couple of months when Kim got married. [Kim married music producer Damon Thomas in 2000 at 19; the couple divorced three years later.] Kourtney told our parents because they didn't know.

KRIS: When Kourtney told me Kim was married, I said, "I can't believe it. Kim would never do this. Of course we would have a wedding if she wants to get married." But she didn't feel comfortable telling any of us because the situation wasn't meant to be. At the end of the day, you know you're not with the right person if he takes you to Vegas, marries you, and tells you not to tell your parents. Okay, that's shady.

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When you do something your mom doesn't like, does she say so?

KOURTNEY: She definitely lets us know her two cents on every issue. I once went out of town and came home and my pantry had all different food in it. She was redoing her kitchen and put all her extra food in my pantry, and then threw out things she didn't think I used. Like tea that I drink every morning. So she's definitely very involved in everything. Even our pantries.

KYLIE: Sometimes I have to get up and lock the door to keep her out. [Laughing]

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Is it hard for all of you to just chill?

KHLOÉ: When I'm at home with Lamar, he's really good at helping me relax. He turns his phone off and doesn't even care. If I'm with him and we're at dinner and I'm on the phone, he tells me it's really rude, and that dinner is our time. And I'm happy that someone brings me back to reality. I need to learn that the phone and emails can wait sometimes. I'm always thinking I have to work, do this, do that. But he reminds me that he's my family too, and I have to take care of my family.

Kris, you recently said, "Bruce really doesn't have much to say around the house." It seems like, from watching the show, the guys in your lives take a bit of a backseat. Is that true?

KRIS: No, no, no. I was kidding about Bruce. We make all of our important decisions together. But he's learned, like many other men, that sometimes it's just not worth the battle. He doesn't care what's going on as long as I'm happy. I couldn't be with somebody who had me under his thumb all the time. That's not who I am.

Kourtney, are you comfortable with Mason living such a public life, or do you want to protect him from that?

KOURTNEY: I definitely want to protect him. I actually don't have him on camera anymore, starting with our New York show. And I'm trying to keep him off camera for the new season of Keeping Up With the Kardashians. He might be playing on the floor in some footage or running around, but everyone knows now not to shoot him. It was a hard decision, because being a mom is my life, so not having him on camera is cutting out the most important part of my life.

What brought you to that decision?

KOURTNEY: When I'm out in public with him, at a restaurant or just walking down the street, people come up to us and always want to talk to Mason. I mean, I like that everyone is so friendly, but I don't want to confuse him. When people come up to us and want to take his picture, I always say no. I'm sure people are like, "Ugh, who does she think she is?" But that's my time with Mason. I realized I couldn't always please everyone, and Mason was most important. I'll get comments from viewers like, "You're eating breakfast on your show, and your son isn't there." The truth is I have a monitor with me at all times, and usually he's in another room napping. But some people think when they don't see me with him 24/7 that I'm out partying or something.

Does it bother you that people are obsessed with your looks? Kim, that people gossip about whether you've had plastic surgery?

KIM: It's so ridiculous that they think I'm having all this surgery. When you do that, there are bruises and recovery time, and I am out and about every single day.

KHLOÉ: No one can prepare you for that kind of media scrutiny — millions of people feeling like they have the right to tell you if you're too fat or too skinny or too tall or too this or too that. I've been compared to my sisters my whole life, but my mom has always said, "You're the tall one, and everyone loves to be tall." My husband is so obsessed with my body; he loves it. He thinks my curves are womanly. Do I have days where my weight issues eat away at me and I get depressed? Of course. But they don't last long. I'm not perfect. Just because I'm on TV, people think that I have 24/7 access to trainers and nutritionists. Oftentimes I don't have the time or want to spend the money to do all that. I've learned that if I go to the gym and eat appropriately, I'm fine. I don't need to fit into a mold.

What do you do to snap out of a bad-body-image day?

KHLOÉ: About two months ago, I was living my life, going to my husband's basketball games, where I eat kind of crappily — soda, chips, or kettle corn. That stuff adds up. In photos, I noticed I was looking a little more swollen. At first I thought they were taken at a bad angle, but five photos later, I realized I had to get something together. That didn't mean crash-diet or do some crazy detox. It meant that now I'll skip the snacks. I'll eat a healthy meal before a game so I'm not hungry. And in just a few days, my tummy was flatter, my face less swollen.

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Let's talk hair for a minute. Rapunzel's got nothing on you ladies. How do you maintain those long, luscious manes?

KHLOÉ: My dad died when I was 19, and I actually lost all of my hair. It wasn't alopecia; it was just really intense stress. When my hair grew back, it grew back less curly, but still wavy. I dye it dark — it's naturally blonde — because it looks healthier, and I think I look better with dark hair.

KOURTNEY: I'm pretty lucky because I can wash it, brush it, and it dries perfectly straight; I don't have to do anything more than that to it. If I want big, glamorous hair, I can't even begin to try and do it myself, so I don't. I just put it up in a bun or a ponytail or a little braid.

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KIM: I don't wash it every day, which protects it from damage.

Kris, do you ever get tired from all that you have going on?

KRIS: Yes, I do. I get tired and obviously overwhelmed at times. You know, everybody does. But that's why God made 5 o'clock and a glass of wine. I'm looking forward to Season 26 — Kylie Gets Married. How's that?

Kris, Kourtney, and Khloé reveal the show moments that taught them big life lessons.

KRIS: "The most powerful episode that makes me cry every time I watch it is Khloé and Lamar's wedding. I had nine days to plan it, and I really thought around day five that I'd have to check myself into a hospital and take 24 hours of vitamin injections. I was so emotional. The good news is that when I look back, I get to relive the memory, because that time was so crazy I don't remember it. The one great thing about having your own TV show is that you get really great home movies. I haven't picked up a camera in five years."

KOURTNEY: "Once when Scott and I were in Miami, we had a big, blowup fight. In a normal fight, he'd probably call a bunch of times and we'd talk it through and be fine. But when it airs on TV, and you relive it over and over in all the reruns too, and you're always hearing other people commenting on it, it's not like an isolated fight that just fades away. It keeps coming up, and so do the feelings around it. So the good thing is you end up working through the problems and truly resolving them."

KHLOÉ: "My DUI taught me a lot in the moment, but it also taught other people how stupid drinking and driving is. My little sisters and my brother saw that I made this mistake. By airing it on national TV, I embarrassed myself, but people could see the consequences. Am I proud of it? No. Would I want it edited out? No. I think it taught a life lesson."